and lustrous pearl of five grains may be 

 more valuable than a misshapen bauble of 

 one hundred. Very large pearls are rarely 

 perfect. Perhaps the most satisfactory 

 sizes are those between ten and twenty 

 grains, but these are rare and costly. A 

 perfect pearl of twenty grains, having a 

 splendid lustre, would be worth to-day 

 between one hundred and fifty and two 

 hundred dollars per grain. Pearls of 

 from five to ten grains in weight are large 

 enough for most uses and they often make 

 up in perfection and brilliancy what they 

 lack in size. 



Price 



The price of pearls is reckoned by the 

 square of the weight, thus: if the base price 

 per grain is three dollars, a two grain pearl 

 would be figured 2x2=4x3 = 12. Therefore, 

 a two-grain pearl would be worth twelve 

 dollars. A four -grain pearl would be 

 reckoned in the same way, 4x4=16x3=48 

 or forty-eight dollars for the pearl. This 

 rule applies to all symmetrical, first-class 

 pearls except surpassingly fine ones which of 

 course will bring fancy prices. As pearls 

 increase in size, the base price per grain is 

 increased. At five grains, the base will be 

 four dollars and at eight grains, six dollars. 

 On this base a ten-grain pearl will be worth 

 six hundred dollars. Very slight imper- 

 fections reduce the value of the pearl from 

 twenty to thirty per cent and greater ones 



